Can anybody help please? My son recently bought a Fabia 1.4 mpi petrol. On checking his coolant I found that it was contaminated with oil. Is it possible to attempt to flush out system and replace coolant at home or must it be garage time. also is it OK to drive the car for any length of time. cheers John.

Signs of headgasket failure is there any overheating?

The coolant bottle will look chocolaty after a while which could lead to further problems

Worth doing a flush before it gets worse but that wont fix the problem..

Probably find it needs a head gasket, common fault. Have a look down the right hand side of the gasket it should have a T or the word Temac. If not it doesnt have the modified gasket. Good news is its a piece of cake to do and not expensive.

Advise replace the gasket and also the header tank.

I did missp's a few weeks back for the same issue. Been fine since.

Edited 11 October, 201015 yr by Tech1e

Can anybody help please? My son recently bought a Fabia 1.4 mpi petrol. On checking his coolant I found that it was contaminated with oil. Is it possible to attempt to flush out system and replace coolant at home or must it be garage time. also is it OK to drive the car for any length of time. cheers John.

Sorry I hadnt read what engine it was at first, has assumed it was a vrs, my mistake. As the above comments state, the head gasket will be the most likelisest cause. Where abouts in scotland are you from?

Edited 11 October, 201015 yr by colinhowie

The 1.4 MPi doesnt have an oil cooler as far as I know.

The 1.4 MPi doesnt have an oil cooler as far as I know.

yeah tech1e your right, I mistook it thinking it was a vrs. head gasket should certainly sort it out. If you need any parts priced up john, I can see what discount I can get for you from my work if your any local to me

If cylinder head is made of alloy, would it not be better to have it skimmed enough to get it level?

It would certainly highlight any cylinder head cracks?

Edited 12 October, 201015 yr by giandougl

Sorry I hadnt read what engine it was at first, has assumed it was a vrs, my mistake. As the above comments state, the head gasket will be the most likelisest cause. Where abouts in scotland are you from?

Cheers Colin, I,am just down the road in AYR.

yeah tech1e your right, I mistook it thinking it was a vrs. head gasket should certainly sort it out. If you need any parts priced up john, I can see what discount I can get for you from my work if your any local to me

That would be brilliant Colin, cheers. john.

Some very tidy looking work there Tech1e

To the OP are you sure that blue coolant has not been added to the G12 at any point? The ensuing gel that forms in the header tank can appear somewhat oily (at least I think that's what it was in my case as a garage put in blue coolant, and on testing for HG failure [sniffer test] there was no combustion gasses in coolant). Flushing the coolant system is easier than changing the headgasket Flushed it once and the goo came back, recently gave it a more thorough flushing with some chemicals and back flushed the radiator too, going to see if the goo comes back again.

It is easy enough to flush the coolant system, but if you've never done a headgasket before i wouldn't recommend attempting it DIY (although it's easier on the 1.4mpi than most other cars).

To clean header tank, remove, spray carb cleaner into it and quickly swill it around to pick up all the gunky stuff, then empty it and quickly give it a thorough rinse in water.

Edited 12 October, 201015 yr by anewman

Can anybody help please? My son recently bought a Fabia 1.4 mpi petrol. On checking his coolant I found that it was contaminated with oil. Is it possible to attempt to flush out system and replace coolant at home or must it be garage time. also is it OK to drive the car for any length of time. cheers John.

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Oh dear, sorry prime suspect is head gasket, get it checked ASAP before water gets in oil Remember oil sits on water so you may already have water in the sump and water in the main and other bearings is not good news.